Spy-plane crew members who returned to the United States yesterday should bounce back quickly from their hair-raising midair collision and days in captivity, experts said.

“This was less traumatic than circumstances where people survive a near-death experience or where they’ve been tortured,” said Naftali Berrill, a forensic psychiatrist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“I don’t want to minimize their discomfort, but they’re not going to have dramatic psychological consequences. This is one of the better-case scenarios.”

Dr. Rona Fields, a forensic psychologist and expert on hostage situations, said the tense, uncertain 11 days the crew spent on China’s Hainan island certainly qualifies as traumatic stress.

But she said the fact the two dozen men and women didn’t suffer physically and are not returning to a “neglectful or hostile” environment will speed their recovery.

“The only hitch is that they may have some residual anxieties and undeserved guilt about having lost the plane and allowing the People’s Republic of China access to such valuable equipment,” she said.

It’s also possible that some of the crew members may be carrying emotional baggage from other traumatic situations.

“Sometimes, what happens is you have it all pile up on one instance, and it triggers reactions that are not specific to that particular instance,” Fields said.

But most of the ex-captives should be able to put the ordeal behind them with ease.

“Thank God no one was killed, no one was maimed. They didn’t witness things that would stain their memory,” Berrill said. “And these are military folks – the most resilient, healthy adaptable people you’re going to find.”

In fact, Fields suggested that the hoopla accompanying their return might be more unsettling than the event itself.

“Their preparation for doing service in the naval aeronautics field was not preparation for stardom,” she said. “There are certain prices that are paid psychologically for the stresses of appearing live on CNN.”